India discusses Vijay Mallya extradition with France where he has properties

India discusses Vijay Mallya extradition with France where he has properties

The Indian government is learnt to have asked French authorities, in a meeting held earlier this month, to approve the extradition of liquor baron Vijay Mallya “without preconditions”.

According to sources, Mallya’s extradition was raised in the 16th meeting of the India-France Joint Working Group on Counter Terrorism, held on April 15.

During the discussion, the Indian delegation is learnt to have sought an update on India’s proposal to France to extradite Mallya. “The French offered a (extradition) proposal with some preconditions (but) India asked them to approve the proposal without any preconditions,” a source said.

According to sources, though Mallya is believed to be in the United Kingdom, India has been pursuing his extradition with countries where he has property and with whom the nation has an extradition treaty. This would be helpful in the event he travels to any of these countries, France being among them, sources said.

At the April 15 meeting, the Indian delegation was led by K D Dewal, a Joint Secretary in the Ministry of External Affairs, and the French delegation by Ambassador Olivier Caron, special envoy for counter-terrorism and organised crime. It was also attended by representatives of the Ministry of Home Affairs and intelligence agencies.

Among its key agenda points was a discussion on the status of mutual legal assistance treaty (MLAT) requests in cases of money laundering and terror financing, as part of which Mallya’s case up.

The French Embassy and the Home Ministry did not comment on queries regarding the development.

Mallya, an accused in a bank loan default case of over Rs 9,000 crore involving his defunct Kingfisher Airlines, has been in the UK since March 2016.

In a supplementary chargesheet filed by the CBI before a special court in Mumbai last year, the agency alleged that even as the now defunct Kingfisher Airlines Limited was facing severe financial crunch in India, Mallya was “acquiring personal assets in overseas countries”, even just before leaving India in 2016.

The chargesheet also included communication that Mallya was buying real estate in France for 35 million euros and had sought to make a payment of 8 million euros from an account of one of his companies, Gizmo Holdings. In 2020, on the request of the Enforcement Directorate, French authorities had seized Mallya’s property in France worth nearly Rs 14 crore. The value of the seized asset is 1.6 million Euros, or roughly Rs 14 crore. The ED had said in a statement that the action was undertaken by French authorities “on the request of the ED”.

For the latest news from across India, Political updates, Explainers, Sports News, Opinion, Entertainment Updates and more Top News, visit Indian Express. Subscribe to our award-winning Newsletter Download our App here Android & iOS